bb1968’s BodyBlog

From what I saw tonight at prejudging, my predictions are as follows:

1st Ronnie Coleman, 2nd Victor Martinez, 3rd Dennis Wolf, 4th Jay Cutler, 5th Dexter Jackson, 6th Melvin Anthony

Compared to the callouts, I have Dennis Wolf in there and they weren’t calling him into the top 5 as I could see it.

We shall see tomorrow night who it will be! 

I attended the Olympia expo today and got a TON of freebies.  I think I ended up with like 15 free t-shirts, tons of samples.  It was awesome to say the least.  The womens prejudging was going on but I was too busy collecting freebies and getting pics with the pros and autographs to watch the boring prejudging.  I think I only got like 5 hours of sleep last night, but I am in the city that never sleeps!  The womens finals are tonight along with the mens prejudging.  All of that is suppose to start at 7:00.  It is now 5:11 and I am getting ready to go eat.  Hope you all are watching the free webcast going on here on bb.com.  Until next time, God bless and take care.

Oh by the way, I am getting an MRI on my back on Monday.  Once that is processed they will schedule me an appointment with the neurosurgeon.  For now the Percoset is working GREAT!  The Flexeril muscle relaxers that my PCP prescribed for me don’t do squat to help the pain.  IT IS NOT MUSCLE RELATED!  It is a pinched nerve and I tried to tell him, but you know sometimes they just are too smart for their own good.  I know my body, I guess I am just not too good at putting into words what the ailment is.  Or their interpretation is something other than what I tell them.  I am rambling now, so enough for now.  Later Gator!

LETS GO CUTMAN  

WOW!  Vegas is full of excitement with all sorts of muscle heads running around here.  Meet the Olympians was great! However, I stood in Jay’s line for like an hour and 45 mins. to meet him and get my pic with him so I only got to see Lisa Aukland before I got in line and Johnnie Jackson was one of only a few left when I finished in Jay’s line.  BUT Getting to meet Jay, MR O was AWESOME and worth it all!  I am very tired right now and I will write more tomorrow.  I am going to the expo tomorrow and the womens prejudging is tomorrow and the finals tomorrow night.  Peace to all and GOOD NIGHT from VEGAS BABY!

I went to the doc (my PCP) and he seems to think I am having problems with my sciatic nerve.  He gave me some muscle relaxers (Flexaril sp?) and told me to take it easy for a while.  I had to request to see a specialist so he is referring me to a neurosurgeon.  I also requested an MRI to be done but he said he would defer that to the discretion of the neurosurgeon.  He talked about doing some steroid injections and some other non-invasive procedures, but I informed him after going that route with my neck and still winding up having to have surgery that I would rather see a specialist first and rule out the worst case scenario of surgery.  I just want to get it fixed the fastest and most correct way possible.  I wasted 2 months time with my neck and I refuse to repeat the same thing over again and expect different results.  That is the definition Einstein used for insane behavior and I totally agree with him.  So for now it is flexeril, percoset and taking it easy.  I need to give my body a little bit of a break anyway.  He also told me that my bike would be detrimental to my low back as well.  I don’t know if I can listen to him there.  I only have a few weeks left of warm weather and the snow will be here before I know it.

So for now, I think I will eat, drink (non-alcohol of course) and be merry.  If anyone has had a sciatic nerve problem, I would greatly appreciate any feedback on your treatments, time frame of improvement/recovery, etc.  Thanks for reading my rambling!

I finally accomplished what had only been a dream in the past and I stepped on stage for not 1, not 2 but 3 competitions in my first year of competing.  Doing this only 4-5 1/2 months after major neck surgery- okay there I said it for the last time and I will bury the hatchet and put it in the past now!  Somebody give me a frickin’ cookie, will ya!  Was it hard, hell yeah!  Was it worth it, you betcha!  No other feeling like it, well except for…I won’t go there LOL!  I have to say it was a learning experience.  That was what I needed more than anything.  To learn the ropes.  I have said it before and I will say it again, you don’t learn how to swim unless you get in the pool.  For anyone who has the dream of competing, I say go for it!  Dive in the deep end!  Don’t wait until you think things are perfect because guess what, there is no such thing as being perfect or having perfect conditions.  IDEAL, yes, PERFECT, NEVER!  As Nike says, JUST DO IT!  I did learn so much from just being there and going through the motions.  What to do, what NOT to do.  Applying Protan correctly, when to carb up, PRACTICE-PRACTICE-PRACTICE on the posing (mandatories and individual routine) I don’t think you can ever get the posing perfect either but you can get it as close as possible and IDEALLY that will suit the majority of the judges.

Going into the offseason now, I am going to relax for at least this next week.  I am headed to Las Vegas on Thursday to watch the BIG BOYS and hopefully see Jay bring home the Sandow once again and put Ronnie into retirement.  ALL good things must come to an end and I believe Ronnie has seen his better days.  We shall see and I may have to eat my words.  It won’t be the first time.  I have a doctors appointment on Tuesday to get my referrals for an MRI and a specialist appointment.  It may be a few weeks before I really know what is going on with my low back.  I will keep the blog updated with any results or information as soon as I get it.  I appreciate the concern of those of you who communicate with me on a regular basis.  That is one of the things I like about Bodyspace, the good people you meet on here.  God bless you all!

After getting my low back fixed up, I am definitely going to concentrate on bringing my chest and triceps back to where they were before my neck surgery and the hamstrings need some serious work as well.  I hope to get some more width to my upper back and the rear delts need some attention as well.  ABS, ABS, ABS won’t be able to work enough on them.  Definitely gotta do something about the lower abs.  I hope to come in around 185 next year which will actually put me in the light heavyweight class but I think it will be another experience that will only help me in the long run.  Always have the carrot out dangling on the stick to give me something to shoot for.  I am looking forward to concentrating on the Master class in a couple of years and get away from these young bucks.  I will kill myself trying to keep up with them!

That’s about it for now.  First things first, until the doc gives me some news, I think I will enjoy the OFFSEASON!  Eating some apples with caramel as we speak!  Thanks for taking the time to read my rambling.  God bless and take care! 

I took 3rd out of 4 guys in the WV State Championship Middleweight class and I placed 5th out of 8 guys in the Mid Atlantic Grand Prix Novice Lightweight class.  It was a real experience to say the least.  Not very many competitors there.  I thought there would be twice as many.  It was exciting to see Erik Fankhouser, the newest IFBB pro, guest pose.  HE IS HUGE!  Got me all pumped to go to the Olympia this next weekend.  Overall, I would have to say that I enjoy the NATURAL shows much better.  The physiques are much more realistic.  I will probably be staying with the OCB next year as the only organization I compete with.  Although, I don’t agree with having to pay $40 bucks each time for a polygraph test.  I mean, come on, it is not like you could go gain 50 lbs in 90 days.  What do I know though.

The back and leg issue now:  I am calling my primary care physician first thing in the morning.  I want to get an MRI done ASAP and get in to see an orthopedic specialist soon thereafter.  NO MORE BACK CRACKERS for me!  I had a really bad experience this last time with my neck.  If I would have had the MRI done sooner I might not have had as much nerve damage done.  So enough for now, until then, keep me in your prayers that God’s hand will once again direct this in a speedy and safe way.  Good night and God bless you all!

I am now 2 days out and still no relief from what I believe to be a lot bigger problem than what I originally thought.  I thought it was just a minor muscle pull, but now I believe it to be a spinal problem, possible bulging disc.  I am constantly having the nerve twitching in my right leg which indicates a pinched nerve.  When I bend over at the waist the pain gets a lot worse.  I do have some Percoset left from my neck surgery and I finally gave in and took one this morning.  MUCH RELIEF!  I think I can make it through the contest with the aid of the drugs.  I probably shouldn’t, but I already paid my entry fees and I prepared for a long time for this, so what the heck, I am biting the bullet and doing it!  I went through the mandatory routine and I might not be 100% but I am not letting this stop me.  Once again, I AM HARD HEADED!  I am going into the offseason after this and I will get some medical advice after this weekend.  Well, it will probably be after next weekend as well because I am headed to Vegas next Thurs. to see the Olympia!  I will post an update with some precontest pics tomorrow night. 

I went to the chiropractor today for my low back and he really didn’t help me much.  Did an adjustment and some ultrasound and electro therapy.  The pain has started making my muscles twitch in my right leg so I am assuming I have a pinched nerve.  The doc told me I would have to come back everyday for a while.  Yeah right!  All he wants is my money.  I have been down that road before with him and ended up in surgery with my neck.  If the pain doesn’t go away in a couple of weeks, I am going to a different chiropractor.  I went to this guy for over a month before I finally told him that I wanted an MRI on my neck.  That was when I finally got some results.  The bottom line is that when you live in the middle of nowhere, your choices are limited.  He is the only chiropractor in town.  I didn’t feel like driving 45 min. to get an adjustment to see if it helped.  So in a couple of weeks I may go get some real help.  I had this same pain a couple of months ago and it went away on its own.  I hope and pray it goes away again.  Not ready for another surgery.  My body just needs a break and some FOOD!

It is now Monday morning and I am regretting yesterdays workout.  I was doing a light weight workout just to keep the blood pumping into the muscles.  I went up to 205 on squats for 10 reps and then a dropset of 135.  On my 4th rep I let my focus drift for one second at the bottom of the rep and pulled a muscle in my lower back!  My point is to never let the mind wonder.  Mistakes will cause injuries!  No matter if you are warming up or on your heaviest set, STAY FOCUSED!  I immediately took some ibuprofen and the pain did subside for a while but before bed it was back so I applied some ice as well as more ibuprofen.  I took some more ibuprofen this morning and applied some sports cream but the dull, aching pain is still there.  Not too happy about this being 5 days out and in the midst of peak week.  Oh well, no use in crying over spilled milk!  Lesson learned, once again- the HARD way.  I am going to try and do a light back and biceps workout, with maybe some very light leg extensions and lying leg curls and that will be it for legs for the week.  We shall see what happens.

This will be my final competition for the year.  I am a natural, drug free competitor and I am stepping into the ring of the NPC for the first time.  The pics of the guys I have seen, well the OCB doesn’t even compare.  So I am a little nervous about being the smallest guy there.  Maybe it is just what I need to get me more motivated than ever.  That may help to push myself over the winter months and gain some serious size.  The experience is what I am going for more than anything else.  If you have never "been there and done that", you will never be able to improve upon it.

Time to go and see how the body is going to hold up for the workout before I gotta be at work this afternoon.   

Part 2:

I finished the workout with just a little suffering.  I have to be at work in about an hour now.  It seems that once the blood got to flowing down to the area that is bothering me, I felt the pain subside.  Much relieved to see that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.  Thanks for stopping by to read my rambling! 

I placed 4th out of 8 in the 35+ Masters category and a 4th out of 5 in the Open Middleweight class.  Most importantly though is that I have achieved another part of my goal for the year.  I have one last competition for the year and I can say that I completed 3 out of 3 competitions which was what I wanted to achieve this year.  You don’t learn how to swim unless you get in the pool, right?  Well, my swim has been a great one thus far.  I am getting much needed experience to better prepare myself for future competitions.  I really need the size back that I lost during my neck injury/surgery period.  The nerve damage is getting on my nerves (pun intended) and I continue to remind myself that the doc said to train smart and listen to my body.  It could take up to a year and a half or more for the nerves to regain there senses back.  If the wiring is not correct, the automobile won’t run properly.  That is the same way the body is with the nerves going to the muscles.  My chest and triceps are really feeling the effects of the nerve damage.  I have aggravated the left side by trying to go too heavy too soon.  I am learning patience the hard way like I have learned every other valuable life lesson.  Call me hard headed but that is the only way I learn. 

13 days out from my last competition.  I am really struggling to stay the course.  I know that it sounds like it would be easy.  Just 13 days and you can relax.  If you have never done this you wouldn’t understand.  If you have done this please give me some pointers.  I have been cutting basically since January 1 which puts me at 8 months and a week of strict dieting.  I will stay on the eating clean diet and way of life so that I never have to lose 40 pounds again.  I hope to stay around 15-20 no more than 25 lbs from contest weight.  At least now I have a point of reference to go by.  I would like to come in around 185 next year.  That was my goal this year, but with the loss of muscle mass from the neck ordeal I was much lower.  Well it sounds like I am starting to ramble…..KOOO  KOOO……KOOO KOOO!  I think I am going nuts is the problem.  Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read this.  God bless you all and thanks for your support!